G.C itis is spreading

[sixty2strat]

I really miss the days when shops treated you as a customer/friend

Went into a shop that is pretty far form were I live now. I used to go there A lot when I took some courses at the local college. In fact bought my 1st Marshall, a lead n bass combo there in 1982. Not been there in a year or so, got the car back from state inspection and a tune up so was out on a joy riide. So I stop in It was a nice surprise: lots of nice gear all well maitained. So I am kinda of looking all over, like I always do nothing in mind but willing to buy if I see the right item:walked out of many a shop with a new fuzz or plexi. So I am in there 15 minutes or so. looking around. I kinda feel I am being watched, which I dont like, odd since I picked up nothing or turned on an amp. So I see an SVT and 2 rack mounts typeSVT400's. My friend wants a back up SVT. Suddenly the the owner calls out to me across the store can I help you, I reply just browsing, HE then yells at me CAN I HELP YOU. I get piss'd, his 1st tone was a bit pushy 2nd time was rude. I replied loudlly " I TOLD YOU I AM JUST BROWSING .....at that point I decide to leave I dont need the attitude. I was shocked: I expect that kinda of treatment of GC. Damm I was a pro, I know how to treat gear, I am not a tire kicker or timewaster. My roomate worked for the guy years ago and I bought a bit of stuff from him. I was treated like a gangbanger in Tiffany and co. Makes me miss the old days when music stores were a home away from home. I was going to buy a Valve Jr head for shits n giggles.they had for a great price ( been wanting one to fool around with for a while) and I will forget that I saw the SVT heads. Sorry had to vent.

[Ken Ho]

I dunno, that's a typical small store experience for me. I always found them expensive and unfriendly. It's the big stores and the net that introduced the idea of good customer service in my world.
You might have been part of the "in crowd" in "the good old days", but I wasn't.

[DrSax]

I dunno, that's a typical small store experience for me. I always found them expensive and unfriendly. It's the big stores and the net that introduced the idea of good customer service in my world.
You might have been part of the "in crowd" in "the good old days", but I wasn't.

EXACTLY!!! I'm surprised to hear someone say this, actually, but that is how I always felt in small mom/pop stores. I mean, whatever, i hope they all do well etc., but from my experience I've always been treated better at GC (and I'm not exactly a huge GC fan).

[Birddog]

My local GC (Buffalo, NY) always treats me like a king. The couple of salespeople I regularly deal with are knowledgeable and really friendly.

There is good and bad about chain stores, and there's good and bad about mom & pop operations. I have no compunction about giving the Buffalo GC my business.

[Jason2112]

i don't know, sounds you probably overreacted based on your story. The guy asked you twice if he could help you - at face value I don't see a problem with that. It's not like he said to stop playing the guitar, turn down the amp, or get lost.

[theflyingturtle]

I dunno, that's a typical small store experience for me. I always found them expensive and unfriendly. It's the big stores and the net that introduced the idea of good customer service in my world.
You might have been part of the "in crowd" in "the good old days", but I wasn't.

+1,000

[aeolian]

I think there is a difference between full service local shops (like Guitar Showcase or Gelb music around here) and the little mom and pop music store (I won't name names). The little ones can't compete, they either can't get first line franshises or they can't get them at decent margin. Either way, it's usually down to some ridiculous price for a Samick knock off. They are often barely surviving and any sale made needs as much margin as possible. They can't afford to mark down "shop worn" inventory, so they are very watchful of all the kids who come in to play around with things. Which leads to the burned out cop syndrome of treating everyone who come though the door like that.

[Scott57]

I dunno, that's a typical small store experience for me. I always found them expensive and unfriendly. It's the big stores and the net that introduced the idea of good customer service in my world.
You might have been part of the "in crowd" in "the good old days", but I wasn't.


EXACTLY!!! I'm surprised to hear someone say this, actually, but that is how I always felt in small mom/pop stores. I mean, whatever, i hope they all do well etc., but from my experience I've always been treated better at GC (and I'm not exactly a huge GC fan).

My experience, as well. I was always given a whole three to five seconds to decide if I wanted to buy that (then) thousand dollar Gibson or not. However, I have also come across several local shops where everyone is cool. Likewise, the local GC is not a bad place to shop.

No love just because it's a Mom & Pop shop and no hate just because it's a national chain. I just don't spend time or money where the place is ran by jerks.

[Washburnmemphis]

My local GC (Buffalo, NY) always treats me like a king. The couple of salespeople I regularly deal with are knowledgeable and really friendly.

There is good and bad about chain stores, and there's good and bad about mom & pop operations. I have no compunction about giving the Buffalo GC my business.

+1 :aok- I bought my last two guitars and a used SFTR at the Buffalo GC.

(I should add Jackson Music aren't slouches either. They do a great job of being competitive especially with GC a 10 minute drive away.)

[itkindaworks]

I dunno, that's a typical small store experience for me. I always found them expensive and unfriendly. It's the big stores and the net that introduced the idea of good customer service in my world.
You might have been part of the "in crowd" in "the good old days", but I wasn't.
That's sort of been my experience in small shops too(one recently went bust). I've only had 1 real hounding experience in GC.

[newmod]

I just don't spend time or money where the place is ran by jerks.

Amen!

[Birddog]

+1 :aok- I bought my last two guitars and a used SFTR at the Buffalo GC.

(I should add Jackson Music aren't slouches either. They do a great job of being competitive especially with GC a 10 minute drive away.)

I completely agree with you. Jackson is great, too. Bought my TRRI there.

[amoodymule]

I have a Mom n Pop store I go to, ...for quite a few years and get along with the guy there, never had problems with attitude, lets me play the guitars, amps and pedals.
Then there have been times when I talk to other music buddies in the city about this place and in there expiriences, he was a total jerk to them, I am really taken back, 'couse I have yet to see this attitude :dunno

GC has been a 50/50 thing, so :dunno ...too many stories for this thred :tapedshut

I miss the Mom n Pops of the 70's, seemed less corporate, and they were, now pawn shops were cool places to find/browse, ah heck, ...that's for another thred :D

[Ken Ho]

Not just music stores either. I recall going to any number of specialty shops over the years and ebign ignored while the counter guy chatted to his mates or whatever.
I remember once I was looking at buying a new motorbike. I had my trade-in bike there, and was trying to talk price to the sales guy sitting across the desk from me. Anyway, he picks up the phone and starts dialing. I figure he is getting a wholesale quote on my trade, but after about 10 mins of chit-chat, I realise he is just shooting the breeze with someone. I just got up and walked. He didn't stop talking long enough to say see ya !
Another time, I walked into a longboard surf shop with a grand in my pocket to pop on a new board. I walked around for 10 mins in this tiny shop and was totally ignored by the counter guy and his mate who were having a chat. I wandered out, again, no comment. I've had any number of this kind of crap encounters, and no, I do not look like a kid or a bum.
So, to the OP, I guaruntee that while you were being treated well in the past, there were other guys , usually without "the right look" who were being treated like crap.
Maybe the guy in this store has worked out that long hair and tatts may look cool, but do not translate to decent sales so often.

[Lo Blues]

I agree that 'mom&pop' does not equal relaxed and friendly etc. A lot of times I feel like I just walked into somebody's living room and interrupted their favorite TV show. Either that or or they're the type that are completely rude unless your gonna buy a guitar. If you buy strings they'll treat you ok.

That being said there are great little music stores too. And I've been in GC's that had good folks as well.

[sixty2strat]

i don't know, sounds you probably overreacted based on your story. The guy asked you twice if he could help you - at face value I don't see a problem with that. It's not like he said to stop playing the guitar, turn down the amp, or get lost.

Well I'd agree maybe but the tone of voice, tells a lot. I did respond after his first question, even if it was pretty disstainful toward me, next time it was plain rude. at 40 I know rudness Just shocked me, guess they only want you come in and say what you want. Sort of like the old time PA state stores, for us older folks. Might as well deal with MF. Felt the guys at the guitar show were polite by contrast

[Swain]

Everybody has a bad day. Maybe the shop owner should be given a break? Especially since you've never had a bad experience there before. I know there ae times when I've sounded like an @$$, and realized my tone of voice, or my actions were directed badly.

[sixty2strat]

Everybody has a bad day. Maybe the shop owner should be given a break? Especially since you've never had a bad experience there before. I know there ae times when I've sounded like an @$$, and realized my tone of voice, or my actions were directed badly.


maybe so but I am sure my response will not see me welcomed in there again. My point was shops were once much nicer places to hang, I made many friends their and learned a LOT and shot the shit, oh yes and spent a lot of money. NOW it seems it's are you buying anything is the new mantra the last 10 years

[teleman55]

I always liked the big stores 'cause they usually had a couple of left-handed guitars.

[jazzandmetal?]

maybe so but I am sure my response will not see me welcomed in there again. My point was shops were once much nicer places to hang, I made many friends their and learned a LOT and shot the shit, oh yes and spent a lot of money. NOW it seems it's are you buying anything is the new mantra the last 10 years

I think that this has more to do with the fact that shops now have to compete with other stores, chain stores and the internet. 10 years ago, it wasn't as bad as it is now. Shop owners/sales guys in the local stores didn't have to worry about shooting the shit with you about gear and you going home to buy it on the internet cheaper. You would just go back to your "hang out spot" and get it. That isn't the case anymore. Every person who walks in is a potential customer and person that is going to help keep the shop open another day via a sale. People still "hang out" at music stores, some stores are just more open to it than others.

Don't forget, it is a store and they pay their bills buy selling gear. It isn't the local video arcade.

[jazzandmetal?]

Also, I understand what you mean. I grew up at A&E music here in Va Beach. I was there EVERY day. They were very tolerant of me and my metal riffs when I was 14 years old ( 16 years ago ) and taught me a lot about gear and playing. I also bought all my stuff there. Some of the other local music stores weren't as tolerant of us kids hanging out. That was before GC and Mars were in the area.

[otaypanky]

If he's like me, he doesn't hear all that well ~ There's a possibility he didn't hear your reply the first time.

Or --
I heard a story of a man on a subway with several unruly children running around and screaming while he sat there in a daze saying nothing and paying no attention. When a nearby passenger reading a newspaper commented on how loud and rambunctious the kids were, the man looked out from his daze and said he was relieved to see his kids were able to play together, almost like normal, as they had just come from their mother's funeral ~ Then he apologized for the noise.
Sometimes you just don't know what someone's dealing with

Or maybe he's just a ******* :dunno

[Flinx]

I dunno, that's a typical small store experience for me. I always found them expensive and unfriendly. It's the big stores and the net that introduced the idea of good customer service in my world.
You might have been part of the "in crowd" in "the good old days", but I wasn't.

+1 :aok

[Bob Stirner]

Sorry fellows, gotta disagree...you've been drinkin' too much of the GC Koolaid. I've been told that great deals on Gibson's can be found at Best Buy as well. B

[Polynitro]

maybe hes deaf? Hes been working in a music store since 1982.

I go to Guitar Center just to fart around and nobody bothers me. I go to Alpha and I get accosted with "dude check out the new midi Strat!" as soon as I walk in the door.

[Scott57]

It could very well be that the guy had a bad day, going deaf, whatever. Unfortunately, first impressions are lasting impressions, especially if it's a shop I've gone out of my way to visit. I don't want anybody fawning over me but in this economy with the amount of competition (big box & internet), you would think sales people would watch how they treat their customers.

[Kenny D]

GC Up in Spokane is a great store. I am never hassled or watched.

I also like to demo pedals on a real amp, not that crappy pedal display running into a crappy little transistor radio of an amp. I ask for a pedal out of the box to demo on a real amplifier and I always get a positive response.

No problems with GC in general here. But they are just like any other store - good people and bad, I suppose.

There used to be a Mom and Pop place in Simi Valley CA where I did all my shopping back in the day called Music World, owned by a guy named Larry. That place was great and was the best music store I have ever shopped at. Larry would let me borrow a piece of gear for a few days to try it out. I miss that place.

[GerryJ]

My local small shop is successful because they do drums/keys/acoustics and especially all manner of PA systems for duos, halls, churchs, etc plus people give music lessons there . And they're very friendly and laid back. If you don't buy a guitar there today, you still might be back in 6 months to buy strings, or a PA, etc.

That's what it takes for a small store to compete successfully.

[Chuck King]

It's easy to try to imagine extraordinary circumstances that might have caused a particular guy on a particular day to act a particular way, but the stereotype of the bitter pushy mom-and-pop store owner emerged because so many of them are, well, bitter and pushy.

When the big box stores rose to prominence, there was a paradigm shift in the instrument market, and never again would stores (mom-and-pop, or anybody else) be able to sell instruments on the same margins as they had in the past. The good, smart stores adapted to the new world order, but there seem to be a lot of smaller stores that think they have a God-given right to always and forever be able to make the same profits off of guitars etc., and that anybody who doesn't want to pay MSRP for a new axe, or wants them to price-match with the store across town, is committing a personal affront and insult to them. A lot of those guys have (quite properly) left or been driven out of the market, although there still seem to be a surprising number out there. Ironically, the ones remaining probably pay their rent off school band instrument rentals and lessons, and don't even rely on guitar sales as a significant part of their business.

[Lance]

I've never had any problems at GC. But, the last time I was in Rocker Guitars, just trying to get some preamp tubes. That's all, just some tubes. I stood at the counter while not one, not two, but three guys were all standing around. Now, two of them were trying to fix something...a pedal, I think. So, ok I'll give them a little bit of a break. The other guy was just standing there, looking at tags on pedal in a counter display case. Like he's taking inventory, or something. I say, "High, I just want to get some tubes." I'll be right there, he replies. He keeps going from pedal to pedal, tag to tag, not writing anything down, just looking. NO less than 10 minutes go by, and nothing. So, I go over to the other two guys, and ask them about getting some help with tubes. "Well, that gentleman there (Pointed to guy I just came from ) will be right with you. I turned around, and said, "No, he won't," as I walked out the door. I even snarked, "I am betting someone at GC will gladly take my money, idiots!" That was almost 10 years ago, and I haven't been back there since.

[WoodyTone com]

I think it's a crap shoot, even down to the day in some cases. I've been in the same stores, different days, GC and small shops, and had good and bad days of customer service. Customer service in this country is one of my pet peeves so I'll stop here! But will say that if you can't be nice and enthusiastic and not foll of it, you ain't gettin' my money!